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Post Info TOPIC: Pentagon Tightening Budget Belt


Veteran Member

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Pentagon Tightening Budget Belt


WASHINGTON - A Pentagonmag-glass_10x10.gif spokesman said Friday the military must tighten its budget belt by looking at ways to share equipment and services instead of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines each paying for its own.

To that end, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell signaled that requests to build more F-22 fighter jets could be one area facing cuts.

The Obamamag-glass_10x10.gif administration is expected to decide by March 1 whether to spend $523 million on 20 more of the radar-evading stealth planes beyond 183 that are already planned - one of the first major defense spending decisions of the new presidency.

Lawmakers fear that ending F-22 spending would result in thousands of lost jobs during the global recession that began last year.

But Pentagon leaders, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, have expressed doubt that more F-22s are needed, especially since the military plans to buy several thousand F-35s, a much cheaper plane.

Morrell said the issue of F-22s was being weighed amid ongoing Pentagon budget talks "both financially and in terms of balancing capabilities and risk."

"We need to make hard choices in this economic climate, particularly with regards to programs that are having trouble being executed," Morrell told reporters at a Pentagon briefing Friday. "We need to look for cost efficiencies."

Earlier this week, Gates said the Pentagon has not yet decided on the F-22 spending, calling it "one of the programs that, along with a number of others - many others - that we will be looking at."

Lockheed Martin Corp., the defense contractor building the F-22, has warned that thousands of jobs would be lost if President Barack Obama decides to end funding for the advanced but costly plane. Lockheed estimates about 95,000 people, at 1,000 suppliers, are working on the F-22 contract.

In January, 44 senators sent Obama a letter urging him to continue production of the F-22. The letter argues that the program could provide thousands of jobs at a time when manufacturers are shedding factory jobs at a rapid clip because of the recession. Roughly 200 House members also wrote to Obama asking him to build more planes.

Additionally, the Air Force has pushed for production of F-22s to reach 381 total aircraft. Lockheed says the F-22 is needed for aerial combat and would be used for potential future threats from nations like China and Russia.

Morrell, the Pentagon spokesman, said Congress already cut the military's budget request in a $787 billion economic recovery package from $10 billion to $7.4 billion. Gates met Friday with his top military commanders from around the world to discuss the 2010 budget.

Do you think they government should end the production of the F-22 and put all those people out of work?



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Senior Member

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so when the government stops buying planes from a certain group its their fault? Its survival of the fittest and it happens all the time. Other companies get cuts when the government doesn't pick up their contract, they get put out work too. i'm on the fence with this, as the job loss rate is dangerously high right now. the question is whats more important. Being fiscally responsible and buying cheaper F-35's with our limited funds, or saving jobs and spending more money. your move Obama, both decisions have negative consequences.

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Go Magic! Beat La!


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I have to agree with Jason. Either way, Obama will make a bad move, it's just determining the lesser of two evils, as it were. Personally the smart thing to do would be to open his eyes and be fiscally responsible.

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Karen Lozano :]


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I believe there's also some question as to whether the F-22 is the best investment of military $$ (is it the best weapon to meet the needs of troops right now?):

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1879176,00.html

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Lego, Cav (the Lego brand name was derived from the Danish expression "leg godt" - play well - and lego also translates in Latin as "I study" or "I put together"...really, one of the world's most perfect words!)

 

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